Businessman, born at Horbury, W. Yorks, on 14 November 1811, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Holt. He was educated at schools in Pontefract and Wakefield. At 14 he entered his father's business in Leeds, where he attended Albion Street WM Chapel. In 1835 he became a partner on the opening of a branch in Berlin, and married Sophie Eulecht there in 1841. In the following year they emigrated to Sydney, Australia, where he became a wool merchant and politician, as well as being one of the town's most prominent financiers. He was a director of several gold-mining, insurance and railway companies, including a directorship of the Sydney Tramways & Railway Co from 1850. Between 1851 and 1880 he acquired various estates in New South Wales and Queensland. He retired from active business in 1885.
A free trader, he was a member of the New South Wales Legislature, 1856-57 and 1861-64, serving as Colonial Secretary in 1856. In Australia he became a Congregationalist, and a generous benefactor of that denomination. In 1881 he and his wife returned to England, where he gave financial support to the Salvation Army and Dr. Barnardo's Homes. He died at his home in Bexley on 5 September 1888, leaving an estate of almost £333,000.